The 3 Key Ingredients to Lasting Personal Change

How Patience, Persistence, and Will Can Help You Build Better Health and Change the Trajectory of Your Life

After more than 4 decades of coaching people to become the healthiest versions of themselves possible, I’ve learned that there are 3 key ingredients that can make what seems impossible, possible. (PATIENCE, PERSISTENCE, and WILL) When you apply them consistently, with a sound plan and the right support, the possibilities can reach far beyond what you ever could have imagined. You can build a stronger, healthier body, regain confidence in yourself, and carry that momentum into your relationships, your career, and the goals you once thought were out of reach. These three words can help change the trajectory of your life in every aspect.

Many people begin that journey with a desire to lose weight or feel better. They want more energy, greater strength, or the confidence to participate in life without feeling held back by their health. They often know some of the things they need to do, but knowing and consistently following through are different parts of the process. That’s where these three ingredients become valuable, helping you turn good intentions into choices you can build on.

Patience: Give Change Time to Develop

PATIENCE means understanding that your body doesn’t operate on the deadline you’ve set in your head. Building strength, reducing body fat, improving your health, and replacing years of habits takes time. You may want immediate results, but wanting them faster doesn’t make the process move faster. PATIENCE allows you to recognize progress beyond the scale and give a sound plan a fair chance to work.

One of the challenges I see in coaching is the tendency to judge an entire effort by a single measurement. Someone can train consistently, improve their eating habits, and begin feeling stronger, then become discouraged because their weight hasn’t moved as quickly as they expected. The number matters to them so much that they overlook the other changes they originally hoped to achieve.

Ask yourself whether you’re getting stronger, handling everyday activities more comfortably, or becoming more consistent with your meals and training. Consider whether your waist measurements or relevant blood tests are moving in a better direction. These observations give you a broader picture to discuss with your coach or doctor, rather than asking the scale to explain everything about your progress.

Patience also applies to learning. You may need time to understand which habits fit your schedule, how to prepare meals you enjoy, or how to approach exercise with confidence. Giving yourself that time allows you to develop skills you can keep using. Expecting yourself to master everything immediately can turn a workable process into a source of frustration.

Persistence: Keep Participating in the Process

PERSISTENCE means continuing to make the choices that move you toward your goals, even when the excitement wears off or life gets in the way. It doesn’t mean being perfect, and it doesn’t mean repeating an approach that isn’t working. It means learning, making adjustments, and returning to the habits that support your health. One difficult day doesn’t erase your progress, but allowing it to become your reason to quit can keep you from discovering what you’re capable of.

Starting often feels easier than continuing. A new program brings enthusiasm and a sense of possibility, but eventually you’ll have a busy week, an unexpected obligation, or a day when you simply don’t feel like following through. Persistence becomes especially useful during those ordinary moments, when your commitment has to become part of your everyday life.

Suppose you miss a training session or eat differently than you intended. You can spend the next several days criticizing yourself, or you can look at what happened and decide how to respond. Perhaps your schedule needs adjusting, your meals need to be more convenient, or your expectations need to better reflect your circumstances. Understanding the obstacle gives you something useful to work with.

This is also why persistence requires judgment. If an approach repeatedly leaves you exhausted, confused, or unable to follow through, continuing unchanged may accomplish very little. Ask questions, seek guidance, and make adjustments. Staying committed to the goal gives you room to improve the way you pursue it.

Will: Put Your Decision Into Action

WILL is your willingness to take action, especially when that action is uncomfortable. It’s deciding that your health deserves your attention, asking for help when you need it, and following through on the changes you can make. You won’t feel motivated every day, which is why you need habits, structure, and support that help you carry out that decision. WILL gets expressed through what you repeatedly choose to do.

People often wait until they feel ready, confident, or motivated enough to begin. But confidence can develop through participation, as you learn what you can handle and see yourself following through. Your first step may be scheduling a consultation, preparing tomorrow’s lunch, or showing up for a training session you’ve been nervous about attending.

Those actions become easier to repeat when you make room for them. Reserve time for training, have food available that supports your goals, and identify someone you can turn to when you need guidance. Give your decisions a place in your schedule and your environment, so you aren’t relying on enthusiasm to carry every part of the process.

Will also includes acknowledging when you need support. Asking for help is a useful action, especially when you’ve spent years struggling with the same issue. You don’t have to know every answer before you begin, but you do need a willingness to learn and participate in the changes you want to experience.

How These Ingredients Work Together

Each ingredient supports the others. Patience gives your efforts time to develop, persistence keeps you involved through setbacks, and will helps you take the actions that move the process forward. A sound plan gives those efforts direction, while support helps you understand what to adjust along the way.

You can put all three into practice with a specific goal. If you want to become stronger, choose an appropriate training plan and make time to follow it. Use patience while you learn the movements, persistence when your schedule becomes difficult, and will when you need to show up or ask for an adjustment. Review your progress over time and use what you learn to guide your next steps.

The same approach can help with changes beyond health. Improving a relationship may require patient listening, persistent effort, and the willingness to have an uncomfortable conversation. Pursuing a career goal may require time to develop new skills, continued effort through rejection, and the decision to apply for an opportunity. The circumstances differ, but the qualities you practice can carry from one part of life into another.

Bottom Line

These same ingredients matter in your relationships, your career, your emotional well-being, and the goals you’ve put off for years. They don’t guarantee that everything will go your way, but they help you work through setbacks and keep moving toward a better outcome. Whether you’re working to lose weight, rebuild your health, or change another part of your life, bring PATIENCE to the process, PERSISTENCE to your efforts, and the WILL to take the next step.

Think about one change you’ve wanted to make and what you could do today to begin supporting it. Give that action a realistic place in your life, seek the guidance you need, and allow yourself time to build on it. Your past has shaped where you are, but the choices you make today can help change where you go from here.

About the Author

Coach Tony Bednarowski, CNS, CMT, is a Board-Certified Nutrition Specialist, Master Personal Trainer, and author with more than 4 decades of coaching experience. Through Get Your Lean On, he helps people improve their strength, body composition, and metabolic health through personalized training, nutrition education, and practical lifestyle coaching.